Mission

This purpose of this blog is document my transformation into a green life and to present positive and economical solutions for homes, businesses, and communities. In my mind, the scope of a “green life” traverses an interconnection of concepts such as sustainability, waste reduction, carbon footprints, the ecology of business, recycling, composting, and of course the global warming crisis. I do not intend to spend any time pointing fingers and casting blame as that will not foster the global solidarity needed for this message to bridge the gap across the cultural divide.

I have been building a library of “green” books and magazine, watching green TV shows like Big Ideas for a Small Planet and Greenovate, listening to radio shows like NPR’s Climate Connections and PRI’s Living on Earth, watching films like An Inconvenient Truth and Energy Wars, and visiting web sites like National Geographic’s The Green Guide. Through all of my studies, my “green” philosophy has begun to take shape.

Green can save you green. You don’t have to install solar panels to make a difference in the amount of energy your home or business uses. We can’t all afford solar panels, but we can adjust our thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter. You can change the settings on your computer to minimize it’s power usage. As incandescent bulbs go out, you can replace them with energy-efficient CFLs. Even small changes can have a dramatic, positive impact on the environment – and our checkbooks. It’s a win-win scenario.

Where do I start? Start with what you can control – home, family, and work. You can control the transformation in your home easily enough. You may even have some influence on your extended family. Further, you may even be able to enact some change at work. In my belief, change comes from within. Start with what you know and work outward.

Don’t wait for your government. If the lessons from the Kyoto Protocols have taught me anything, it is that when the American people don’t like a decision the government is making they will find another way. To date, the US hasn’t signed on to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases globally, but 973 US cities have joined Cool Cities to meet or exceed the protocols in that very agreement. Would you rather have the government tell you what to do or would you rather lead the way and tell them what to legislate? Besides, with the level of climate change we are facing, we can’t afford to wait for the legislatures to sort out the details – the clock is ticking.

Green, Greener, Greenest. I’ve had this idea for a while that any change to be more green is good. Some of those changes are good, some are better, and some are the best. When it comes to transformation – to societal change – going from 0 to 60 is nigh impossible. At this point, any progress is good. I just discovered a new book galled GreenGreenerGreenest (by Lori Bongiorno) that illustrates this idea. Let’s take drinking water for instance. You can go green by minimizing your use of bottled water. You can go greener by drinking only tap water when at home – if you’re water is clean enough. You can be greenest by eliminating bottled water entirely and using a reusable container with tap water.

We are stewards of the planet. It has become abundantly clear that if we must be stewards to the planet to ensure our survival on it. My 6 year old understands that if you make a mess – you clean up the mess. We mess up the planet? We clean up the planet. We’re not ready to live on the moon yet.

The single greatest challenge of our time. I’ve heard this phrase several times from several sources. Climate change will be the single greatest challenge of our time. It is a problem that crosses borders, races, and religions. It affects everyone on the planet. This may seem a daunting task, but it is a challenge that I welcome with optimism. It may be a challenge that halts wars, forces opposing political parties to join forces, and puts religious squabbles to the side while we ensure the human race can survive in the decades to come. Who has time to fight over territory when we have to find clean water?